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Jordan Lyles

Padres Designate Kevin Quackenbush, Select Jordan Lyles

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The Padres have designated righty Kevin Quackenbush for assignment and outrighted lefty Dillon Overton, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. Those moves help clear the way for a variety of September call-ups.

San Diego has selected the contract of right-hander Jordan Lyles and activated shortstop Erick Aybar from the DL. The club also added lefty Kyle McGrath and righty Jose Valdez to the active roster.

Quackenbush has never quite replicated the success he found in his debut season of 2014 and struggled to a 7.86 ERA over 26 1/3 major-league frames this year. Lyles was also effective in ’14 as a starter for the Rockies, but has steadily declined ever since and washed out of the Colorado bullpen earlier this year.

Padres, Jordan Lyles Agree To Minors Deal

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The Padres have agreed to a minor league pact with right-hander Jordan Lyles, per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The 26-year-old righty was designated for assignment by the division-rival Rockies prior to the non-waiver deadline and was released last week. Lyles has been assigned to Triple-A El Paso, according to Sanders.

Lyles was the No. 38 overall pick in the 2008 draft by the Astros but found himself traded to the Rockies prior to the 2014 season as part of a package that netted the Astros outfielder Dexter Fowler. The Rox had hoped that Lyles, then one of the game’s top-regarded pitching prospects, could help to solidify the rotation for years to come.

He made good on that promise in 2014, tossing 126 2/3 innings with a 4.33 ERA, but Lyles was unable to replicate those results over the next three seasons in Colorado, struggling with injuries along the way. A broken left hand significantly shortened that 2014 campaign for Lyles, and a ligament injury in his left foot would cap his 2015 season at just 49 innings.

Lyles was healthy in both 2016 and 2017, but his results didn’t improve following a shift from the rotation to the ’pen. All told, the final three seasons of his Rockies tenure resulted in a 5.95 ERA with 5.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 51 percent ground-ball rate in 154 1/3 innings. Metrics like SIERA, FIP and xFIP were a bit more optimistic, pegging him at remarkably similar (and sequential) marks of 4.69, 4.70 and 4.71, respectively.

The Padres will take a look at Lyles for the remainder of the season, and he could conceivably help the big league club as a long man or in the rotation eventually, depending on whether the Friars ultimately trade starters Clayton Richard and/or Jhoulys Chacin. At present, both of those veterans are in the rotation alongside Travis Wood, Luis Perdomo and rookie Dinelson Lamet, but both Richard and Chacin are plausible August trade candidates. Lyles could technically be controlled for another season via arbitration, depending on when he is added to the team’s roster, as he currently sits 30 days of MLB service shy of reaching six years of service time.

For now, Lyles will join the rotation for San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate: the El Paso Chihuahuas. He will, in fact, start tonight’s game for El Paso, as noted by Chihuahuas broadcaster Tim Hagerty (on Twitter).

Rockies Designate Jordan Lyles For Assignment

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The Rockies have designated righty Jordan Lyles for assignment, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. They also reinstated closer Greg Holland from the paternity list, recalled outfielder Raimel Tapia and optioned righty Carlos Estevez to Triple-A Albuquerque.

[Related: Updated Colorado Rockies Depth Chart]

The 26-year-old Lyles struggled in 46 2/3 innings of relief for the Rockies this season, posting a 6.94 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. Lyles was a first-round pick of the Astros in 2008 and made it to the big leagues as a 20-year-old starter in 2011. He didn’t make much progress in parts of three seasons with the Astros, though, and headed to the Rockies after the 2013 season as part of the Dexter Fowler deal. Lyles had a modestly successful first season in Colorado but has headed backwards since then, ultimately landing in a bullpen role. Lyles has seen his velocity increase in recent seasons, with an average fastball of 94.3 MPH this year, and his youth, ample big-league experience and ability to start could interest rival clubs.

Camp Battles: Colorado Rockies

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The Rockies made several moves this winter geared toward putting a contender on the field, but face a tall task to unseat the Dodgers and Giants as the leading team in the NL West. While there’s not a ton to sort out in camp, there are a few notable battles that could impact Colorado’s hopes.

Here are the key camp competitions for the Rockies, who are the second entrant in MLBTR’s new Camp Battles series.

CATCHER
Tony Wolters
Age: 24
Bats: L
Contract Status: Pre-Arbitration; projected to become a free agent after ’21 season
Options remaining: 2

Tom Murphy
Age: 25
Bats: R
Contract Status: Pre-Arbitration; projected to become a free agent after ’22 season
Options remaining: 2

Dustin Garneau
Age: 29
Bats: R
Contract Status: Pre-Arbitration; projected to become a free agent after ’22 season
Options remaining: 2

After relying heavily on veteran Nick Hundley for the past two seasons, the Rox are set to hand off the field generalship to some much less experienced players. Wolters emerged after coming over through a waiver claim, providing solid defense behind the dish while adding value on the basepaths. He’s not much of a hitter — he posted a 75 wRC+ over 230 plate appearances and never did much more in the minors — but seems to have the trust of the organization.

Vying with each other to share time with Wolters, or possibly even take primary duties, are Murphy and Garneau. The former has shown quite a bit of bat in the upper minors and in his brief MLB time, though he’s still a work in progress behind the plate. The latter raked last year at Triple-A, but seems clearly third in line.

There’s still perhaps an outside chance that Colorado will make a move for Matt Wieters — if not some other veteran — before camp breaks. But if that doesn’t come to pass, the plan likely involves hoping that Murphy takes charge while leaning on Wolters to the extent necessary.

Prediction: Murphy is given every opportunity to win semi-regular time, but ends up in a time-share with Wolters.

CLOSER
Adam Ottavino
Age: 31
Throws: R
Contract Status: 2 years, $9.1MM
Options remaining: Can’t be optioned without consent

Greg Holland
Age: 31
Throws: R
Contract Status: 1 year, $6MM with 2018 mutual option ($10MM or $1MM buyout)
Options remaining: Can’t be optioned without consent

Jake McGee
Age: 30
Throws: L
Contract Status: 1 year, $5.9MM
Options remaining: Can’t be optioned without consent

Mike Dunn
Age: 31
Throws: L
Contract Status: 3 years, $19MM
Options remaining: Can’t be optioned without consent

Jason Motte
Age: 34
Throws: R
Contract Status: 1 year, $5MM
Options remaining: Can’t be optioned without consent

These five veterans all have substantial late-inning experience, with most having handled the ninth inning for at least some significant stretch. The only one that hasn’t — Dunn — just signed a contract that includes incentives for games finished, though that hardly means he’s been promised a full-blown shot at the job.

Ottavino seems the obvious choice: he has been nails over the past two seasons, with a 1.93 ERA and 11.6 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. But he has managed only 37 1/3 total innings in that stretch, owing to Tommy John surgery, and his health will be monitored closely all year long. The veteran Holland is a wild card, as he’s returning from his own TJ procedure and has a long record of dominating from a closer’s role. McGee is looking to bounce back from a subpar 2016 campaign, while Motte could be turned to if he can rebound from his own struggles and the need arises. Unless Ottavino falters, though, it seems the job is likely his.

Prediction: Ottavino

STARTING ROTATION (ONE SPOT)
Jeff Hoffman
Age: 24
Throws: R
Contract Status: Pre-Arbitration; projected to become a free agent after ’22 season
Options remaining: 3

Jordan Lyles
Age: 26
Throws: R
Contract Status: 1 year, $3.175MM
Options remaining: Can’t be optioned without consent

German Marquez
Age: 21
Throws: R
Contract Status: Pre-Arbitration; projected to become a free agent after ’22 season
Options remaining: 2

Kyle Freeland
Age: 23
Throws: L
Contract Status: Pre-Arbitration; projected to become a free agent after ’22 or ’23 season (not yet on 40-man)
Options remaining: 3

The Rockies finally have some hope in the starting staff, but the fifth slot remains undetermined as camp opens. Fortunately, there are a host of intriguing arms that figure to compete for the job, with the losers expected to remain on hand if a leak springs during the season.

Both Hoffman and Marquez struggled in their MLB debuts, but are seen as talented hurlers and obviously have caught the eye of GM Jeff Bridich. If neither grabs the reins in camp, though, it’s plenty possible that they’ll be left in Triple-A for added seasoning when the season opens. That could leave room for a comeback for Lyles, who struggled badly in 2016 and may otherwise end up in the bullpen. Though Freeland has only a dozen Triple-A starts under his belt, that’s more than Marquez, so he too could factor with a big spring — though going to him would require opening a 40-man spot.

Prediction: Hoffman

[RELATED: Colorado Rockies Depth Chart]

Rockies, Jordan Lyles Avoid Arbitration

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2:24pm: SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that the two sides settled on a $3.175MM salary.

12:35pm: The Rockies announced today that they’ve avoided arbitration with right-hander Jordan Lyles on a one-year deal. Terms of the contract weren’t disclosed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had pegged Lyles, a Ballengee Group client, for a $3.3MM salary in 2017.

Lyles, 26, missed the majority of the 2015 season with a foot injury and split the 2016 campaign between the Rockies and the team’s Triple-A affiliate. Formerly a starter with the Rockies and Astros (and a well-regarded prospect in the Houston farm system), Lyles shifted to a bullpen role for the bulk of this past season but struggled to a 5.83 ERA in 58 2/3 innings. Lyles averaged a career-low 4.9 strikeouts and averaged a career-high 4.3 walks per nine innings in his time at the big league level this past season. Those struggles led us to peg him as a potential non-tender candidate, but he’ll return despite his troubles. Lyles’ 51.5 percent ground-ball rate this past season was encouraging, as was the fact that he allowed just four homers in his 58 2/3 frames despite pitching at Coors Field. He also saw his fastball velocity trend upward, settling at a career-best average of 92.9 mph after moving into a short-relief role.

With five years and 21 days of big league service under his belt, Lyles is one year away from reaching the open market, so demonstrating some form of improvement next year will be of extra importance for the former No. 38 overall draft pick. With Jon Gray, Tyler Anderson, Tyler Chatwood, Chad Bettis, Jeff Hoffman, German Marquez and Eddie Butler all in the rotation mix, it might be difficult for Lyles to get back into a starting role in 2016. However, if he’s able to perform capably in a multi-inning relief role, he’d still boost his 2017-18 free agent stock nicely.

NL Notes: Heyward, Upton, Rockies

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Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward will undergo an MRI this morning after leaving yesterday’s game following a diving catch, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune notes. Heyward says his “lower rib bone and hip bone hit each other.” He adds that he isn’t experiencing any sharp pain and is relieved that there aren’t any broken bones, but it sounds like he could still wind up on the disabled list. If Heyward were to head to the DL, the Cubs could activate Matt Szczur, who’s currently on the DL with a hamstring injury. Here’s more from the National League.

  • Padres outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. appears to be getting his career back on track in San Diego, writes FOX Sports’ Flinder Boyd in a lengthy profile that chronicles the twists and turns Upton’s career has taken. After miserable seasons with the Braves in 2013 and 2014, Upton has quietly had modest success with the Padres, batting .257/.327/.429 last season and .266/.346/.441 this year. “I stopped trying to live up to other peoples’ expectations,” says Upton. “I’m just thankful for another opportunity.”
  • The Rockies have recalled pitchers Jordan Lyles and Miguel Castro from Triple-A Albuquerque and placed righty Christian Bergman on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique, as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding notes (Twitter links). They’ve also optioned righty Scott Oberg to Albuquerque. The moves give the Rockies’ bullpen somewhat of a new look. Lyles, who has struggled in both the big-league and Triple-A rotations this year, will take Bergman’s long relief role. Castro had briefly been optioned to Albuquerque after a stint on the DL for shoulder inflammation. The hard-throwing 21-year-old was previously off to a fast start with the Rockies, whiffing nine batters and allowing just one run and two walks in his first seven innings.

NL Notes: Lyles, Aybar, Diaz, Giants

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The Rockies have optioned righty Jordan Lyles to Triple-A, per a club announcement. Things have not gone as hoped for the 25-year-old, who missed much of last season with a toe injury. Through four starts, he’s lasted only 17 2/3 innings while allowing 11 earned runs on 22 hits and 11 walks, with just eight strikeouts on his ledger. To be fair, Lyles has been hurt badly by a sub-50% strand rate, and he’s still hovering around 50/50 in terms of generating grounders on balls in play. But his swinging strike rate is sitting at a career-worst 5.2% despite a career-high 92.9 mph average four-seamer, and advanced metrics haven’t seen much cause for optimism. (Lyles owns at a 4.85 FIP, 5.50 xFIP, and 5.73 SIERA.) Colorado will hope that Lyles can turn things around at Triple-A; otherwise, he could be headed for a non-tender. It’s worth noting that the right-hander entered the season with 4.060 years of service to his credit, so he could fall shy of reaching his final year of arb eligibility if he doesn’t return for a sufficient stretch of major league action. Lyles is earning $2.98MM in 2016.

Here are a few more notes from the National League:

  • Shortstop Erick Aybar has been a huge disappointment early on for the Braves, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. While the Atlanta front office emphasized that it valued his inclusion in the Andrelton Simmons trade, Aybar has been one of the league’s least productive offensive players over the first several weeks of the season. Hopes were that the 32-year-old would help keep the team competitive and, perhaps, turn into a mid-season trade chip before hitting the market after the season. Instead, he’s followed up on a down year in 2015 with a remarkable -1.1 fWAR thus far, the worst mark in the majors by a full half-win.
  • Interestingly, it’s been quite the opposite tale at short for the Cardinals, who were noted as an organization with hypothetical trade interest in Aybar after losing Jhonny Peralta this spring. Instead, Aledmys Diaz has knocked the cover off of the ball, as ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon explains. Diaz is hitting at a ridiculous .480/.509/.860 clip through 53 plate appearances, and while his .477 BABIP will undoubtedly fall, he’s also recorded only three strikeouts on the year to go with three walks. And though he has recorded five errors at short, his metrics grade out at average (in an undeniably tiny sample). All told, Diaz has already racked up 1.4 fWAR, checking in at fourth in the big leagues by that measure of total value. Trevor Story may have occupied the early headlines, but Diaz has actually been much more productive overall and has perhaps shown a more sustainable, better-rounded offensive skillset.
  • Giants relievers Sergio Romo and George Kontos are both beginning to test out their injured elbows, with the latter slightly ahead of the former, as Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets. Kontos is still at least two weeks away, and the club may get a better read on Romo once he attempts to throw for the first time later this week.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/8/16

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With the start of the new year, it’s likely there will be an increased flow of arbitration agreements. We’ll keep tabs on the day’s relatively minor arbitration agreements in this post. As always, all arbitration projections are via MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz.

  • Righty Zach McAllister has agreed to a $1.3MM salary with the Indians, Jon Heyman reports on Twitter. That represents a nice bump up over the $1MM he had been projected for. The first-time-eligible, 28-year-old hurler has put up much greater innings totals in previous seasons than he did last year, when he transitioned full-time to the pen. That could be a cause for the increased earnings. Of course, the move to a relief role proved rather fruitful for all involved, as he turned in a 3.00 ERA with 11.0 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in his 69 frames.
  • The Rockies have agreed to avoid arbitration with righty Jordan Lyles, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports previously reported.* He’ll receive a $2.975MM deal for the 2016 season, which comes in slightly above his $2.8MM projection. The small raise isn’t a surprise given that Lyles only threw 49 frames in ten starts in the 2015 campaign. The righty, who only just turned 25, had something of a breakout season in 2014, when he put up a 4.33 ERA in 126 2/3 innings. While he notched only 6.4 K/9, with a 3.3 BB/9 walk rate, Lyles was able to induce grounders on better than fifty percent of the balls put in play against him. And that earned run mark means more for a Colorado-based pitcher, of course. But ERA estimators viewed Lyles as a low-4.00 ERA contributor even in 2014. And the time missed remains somewhat concerning, although the injuries that caused it — a fractured hand and toe ligament tear — may not be indicative of his durability going forward.

*Editor’s Note: this arbitration agreement was mistakenly re-posted after previously being reported.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 12-2-2015

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We’ll use this post to keep tabs on arbitration deals struck today in advance of the non-tender deadline. Here’s the latest, with all projections via MLB Trade Rumors:

  • The Padres and Brett Wallace have agreed to a one-year contract for the 2016 season, according to a team announcement. Wallace will earn $1MM next season, tweets MLB.com’s Corey Brock, placing him just shy of his $1.1MM projection.
  • Backstop Chris Gimenez has agreed to a deal to avoid arbitration with the Rangers, per a team announcement. Gimenez will earn $975K while in the majors, but the deal is a split contract, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets.
  • The Orioles announced that they’ve agreed to terms with outfielder Nolan Reimold on a one-year deal, thus avoiding arbitration. Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic.com reports that Reimold will land a $1.3MM salary (Twitter link). He cleared MLBTR’s projection by $400K.
  • The Indians have avoided arbitration with newly acquired outfielder Collin Cowgill by agreeing to a $1MM salary for the upcoming 2016 season, tweets MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. That’s an exact match with his projected salary.
  • The Athletics announced that they’ve avoided arb with second baseman Eric Sogard, outfielder Sam Fuld, and newly acquired southpaw Marc Rzepczynski (Twitter link). Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first reported Sogard’s contract (via Twitter), adding that he receives a $1.5MM salary, which is a bit shy of his $1.7MM projection.
  • The Cubs announced that they’ve avoided arbitration with lefty Clayton Richard, who, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reports (on Twitter), will take home a $2MM salary next season. That’s a sizable increase over the $1.1MM at which he was projected.

Earlier Updates

  • The Blue Jays have avoided arbitration with first baseman Justin Smoak, per Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). He’ll earn $3.9MM next season with the Jays. That number drastically outpaces the $2MM projected by MLBTR.
  • Jose Lobaton and the Nationals have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year deal worth $1.3875MM, reports James Wagner of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Lobaton’s deal comes in just shy of the $1.5MM he was projected to earn.
  • The Phillies announced deals with infielder Andres Blanco and just-claimed outfielder Peter Bourjos. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that Bourjos will receive a $2MM salary and Blanco will be paid $1.45MM in 2016. MLBTR had projected Blanco at $1MM while Bourjos came with a projected tag of $1.8MM.
  • Jordan Lyles has a $2.975MM deal with the Rockies, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports on Twitter. The righty will earn a minor bump over his $2.8MM projection.
  • The Athletics announced that the team has agreed to a deal with lefty Felix Doubront on a contract for 2016. The value is not known at this time, but he was projected at $2.5MM.
  • Backstop A.J. Ellis will receive $4.5MM next year with the Dodgers after striking a deal, Heyman tweets. That’s an exact match for the rate projected by MLBTR and Matt Swartz. The 34-year-old, who had a nice bounce-back campaign in 2015, will hit the open market after the coming season.
  • Righty Vance Worley has signed on with the Orioles for $2.6MM, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. That falls just $100K shy of his projected value as a first-year-eligible player. Baltimore added Worley earlier in the winter from the Pirates and figures to utilize him in a swingman capacity.
  • The Cubs have agreed to a $1.42MM deal with just-added lefty Rex Brothers, Heyman tweets. Brothers was projected at $1.5MM and will land just south of that figure. Brothers was recently designated by the Rockies and then shipped to Chicago in a minor trade.
  • And the Nationals will pay $900K to outfielder/first baseman Tyler Moore for the 2016 season, also per Heyman (via Twitter). He’ll land a bit shy of his $1MM projection, but the more relevant matter here is the fact that Moore will keep his roster spot. That has at times seemed at doubt, particularly with Ryan Zimmerman now entrenched at first base.

NL West Notes: Jansen, Kendrick, Lee, McGehee, Lyles

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The sudden nature of Kenley Jansen’s unavailability on Wednesday evening led to a good deal of speculation following the contest, especially when the Dodgers saw a two-run ninth-inning lead turn into a loss after Jansen’s bullpen mates couldn’t hold off the Rockies. After the game, manager Don Mattingly told reporters that Jansen wasn’t available and that he learned as much during the game, but he provided no further details. Bill Plunkett of the O.C. Register was among those to report yesterday, however, that Mattingly was merely respecting his closer’s wishes. Jansen woke up Wednesday morning feeling sick and dehydrated, and he told the team in the fifth inning of the game. Given his symptoms and history of heart problems, the Dodgers game him an IV and performed an electrocardiogram, after which the doctor recommended that he not play. Jansen said frustration and feeling as though he let the team down were the reasons that he did not wish to address the media Wednesday evening. The 27-year-old righty has been perfect since returning from the DL this season, firing six scoreless innings with an 11-to-0 K/BB ratio.

Here’s more from the NL West…

  • In other Dodgers injury news, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports (Twitter links) that Howie Kendrick, who was injured while sliding into third base on Wednesday, underwent an MRI that revealed no structural damage. Kendrick, however said he “[doesn’t] know what will happen” if the knee is not feeling any better today, suggesting that he could miss a bit of time with the injury. Gurnick also says that right-handed pitching prospect Zach Lee has been experiencing a tingling sensation in his fingers and is being examined by doctors in Los Angeles. That’s a troublesome ailment for a team that is working with a thin rotation. Lee, long regarded as one of L.A.’s more promising arms, has a 2.38 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 56 1/3 innings at Triple-A this season.
  • Giants GM Bobby Evans addressed the team’s third base situation in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM yesterday and indicated that recently optioned Casey McGehee could return in the near future (Twitter links). Said Evans: “We’ve given Matt Duffy a long look there and we’ll continue to, there’s a chance McGehee could be back up here soon as well. We’ll continue to monitor that, but we have fallback options in that area.” The Giants will certainly hope that McGehee can solidify the position, and he does indeed seem to have corrected his swing at Triple-A. In 46 plate appearances with Sacramento, McGehee is hitting a hefty .357/.391/.571 with a pair of homers and three doubles. Giants third basemen are hitting .255/.294/.380, though McGehee’s own struggles at the plate have contributed to that rather unimpressive collective effort.
  • Rockies right-hander Jordan Lyles, who is out for the season due to a foot injury that he describes as “Tommy John for my toe” (Lyles has a torn ligament in his big toe), knew that he needed surgery when he took the hill for his last outing, writes the Denver Post’s Nick Groke. “I was trying to hold off the inevitable,” said Lyles. “They didn’t think I’d be able to handle the pain. But being a hard-head, I said, ’Well, let’s see about that.'” Lyles said that making the final start, which he left in the second inning, didn’t worsen his injury anymore, as the damage had already been done. Rather, he took the mound simply because he “was trying to be a good teammate.” Lyles adds that during his last injury absence, he developed a split-fingered changeup to add to his pitch arsenal. “Now I’ve got a few more months to find something else,” he told Groke.
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